Quick Fixes for Crumbling Walls

Walls keep your house together, so don't let them fall apart! From wallpaper with bubbles to split wood siding, PM has easy solutions to make your walls look better, fast. Excerpted from the Popular Mechanics book When Duct Tape Just Isn't Enough, published by Hearst Books/Sterling Publishing. Check out previous excerpts here.

Dec 18, 2009

Trinette Reed/Getty Images

In the home—as in life—it's often the little things that matter. And it's amazing how many small structural things can go wrong around your house. Whether it's the front-door lock that won't let you into your own home, or the cracked window that won't keep the cold out, small household problems can have a big effect. For most of these, there's no need to call for a repairman— the solution lies in tapping your ingenuity and using a few common household materials in innovative ways. Even when it seems that the roof is falling in—or the floor is opening up beneath you—there are often simple ways to solve larger problems on your own.

STRUCTURAL QUANDARIES: WALLS:

3:74 || PATCH PERFECT:

A little roughhousing seemed harmless enough until someone's elbow found its way through the drywall.

THE QUICK FIX

Cover the hole with a peel-and-stick drywall repair screen. If you can't find one at your local hardware store, try this: Use a wallboard saw or utility knife to cut a square around the hole. Insert a short piece of scrap wood as a brace, holding it against the back side of the wall, while you insert screws into it from the front. Cut a drywall patch using the square you removed as a template. Coat the back of the patch with compound and press into place against the brace. Now tape and compound the patch and paint to match the rest of the wall.

3:75 || REPEAT OFFENDER:

Hairline cracks in your living room wall are driving you crazy as they come back months after you've spackled, sanded, and painted.

THE QUICK FIX

First, widen the crack slightly by scraping with the pointed end of a can opener. Remove all dust and cover the crack with 2-in.-wide adhesive-backed fiberglass mesh drywall tape. Cut the tape if necessary to follow the crack, but don't overlap pieces. Use a drywall knife to apply a thin coat of joint compound over the tape. The next day, sand lightly and follow with two wider, thinner coats of compound.

3:76 || DEFLATION CONCERN:

A large bubble in wallpaper sticks out like a sore thumb.

THE QUICK FIX

Cut an X in the bubble using a utility knife with a new blade. Peel back the edges of the cut wallpaper and carefully apply wallpaper adhesive. Smooth down the edges so that the cut lines are blended in and disappear

3:77 || FISSURE FIX:

A split in wood siding isn't just unsightly, it's an open highway for water and other elements to get in and damage your walls.

THE QUICK FIX

Vince Butler, president of Butler Brothers Corporation in Clifton, Virginia, and chair of the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers Council, suggests a way to avoid the expense and effort of replacing the entire board. "Wedge a small shim under the siding board until the bottom half of the split is exposed, then coat the exposed edge of the split with a high-quality waterproof wood glue. Use a syringe to apply the glue as deep into the crack as possible." Then it's just a matter of ensuring the split dries tight. "It's best to wedge or clamp the board if you can, but if not, you should nail the board above and below the split, predrilling for the nails. Cover the nails with wood putty; sand and repaint the siding board to match."

CRUMBLE CURE:

Plaster walls have a way of coming apart with little prompting. Make sure your walls don't go to pieces when hanging a mirror or picture by making a small pilot hole that is slightly smaller than the nail. The drill bit must be long enough to penetrate completely through the plaster and the lath behind it. When in doubt, use a screw instead of a nail to spare brittle plaster walls the force of impact.

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